


It Will be Over Soon

by spotedanddotted



Category: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Daddy Issues, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Blood, Self-Harm, masochism (sort of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:27:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28826664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spotedanddotted/pseuds/spotedanddotted
Summary: Jekyll is having a hard day and does something incredibly rash, good thing a certain lawyer is there to lift his spirits.
Relationships: Henry Jekyll/Gabriel John Utterson
Kudos: 22





	It Will be Over Soon

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try something a little different and play with some angst over the fluff I usually write. I hope it's okay :-)

Dr. Jekyll was not feeling well. Of course, that was probably a gross understatement. But that’s what he told Poole when he shut himself up in his cabinet that morning. He sat close to the fire hoping the warmth would help melt the ice in his soul. His face was stained with tears, his eyes red, but dry for now. He hugged himself as he felt another wave of grief washing over him. “Why couldn’t he love me?” Jekyll asked himself, seeing the cold disapproving glare of his father clearly in his mind. The doctor shook his head and stood, walking over to his desk. Jekyll was only partially aware of what he was doing, driven by some strange urge. A bizarre impulse he couldn’t describe. All he knew in that moment was that he wanted to hurt, he wanted to bleed. He still didn’t fully understand why he was reaching for one of the beakers sitting to the side of his desk until he was lifting the little glass object over his head and thrusting it down onto his hand that was sitting on the tabletop. He was rewarded with the sound of glass shattering and a stray shard slicing his cheek. Most of the jagged pieces, however, were jutting out from his hand and arm. He turned his hand over, grabbing another beaker and smashing it over his palm. He stood still for a moment watching the ruby red spots of blood take form as the red fluid rushed to the surface of the newly formed lacerations until the door to his cabinet was flung open without his permission. 

“Jekyll?” A voice called from the doorway “Oh god, Henry!” The sound of shoes hitting the floor hard as their owner dashed through the cabinet, taking Jekyll in his arms. He then pulled away to look Jekyll in the face. Mr. Utterson stared at the dejected doctor, who was just staring at the floor. “H-Henry? Please say something.” Utterson begged, his voice faltering, as tears stained his flushed cheeks. 

Seeing Utterson cry, knowing he had broken the lawyer’s stoic facade, snapped Jekyll from his stupor. “It hurts.” Jekyll fell apart, sobbing loudly into the shoulder of Utterson’s suit. He felt Utterson wrap his arms tightly around Jekyll’s neck. 

“I know.” Utterson said, holding him tighter, “I know it hurts.” 

Jekyll wrapped his right arm around Utterson’s waist. Holding him tight. His left arm hung limply by his side, with the glass still protruding from it. The blood was rushing out of him now, dripping like a leaking faucet, to the floor. He gripped the back of Utterson’s coat as he felt the lawyer’s shoulders shake in sorrow. They said no words, just held one another tightly, as the tears kept flowing. Jekyll was starting to hiccup when Utterson finally spoke again.

Why?” He pleaded, his voice shaking in grief. “Why would you do something like that?” 

Jekyll tightened his hold on Utterson, his fingers curling deeper into the fabric of his jacket, gently tugging at it. “I don’t know.” He couldn’t come up with an answer, as he stood there feeling incredibly foolish. “I just wanted the pain to be real. I just wanted my body to bleed like my soul was. I-I suppose I am just a blundering masochist.” Jekyll said slumping as his knees shook beneath him. He couldn’t tell if this flush of faintness was from the revelation, or from the bloodloss. 

Utterson moved to support the shaking doctor, removing his arms from around Jekyll’s neck and instead wrapped them around his waist. Supporting his weight, as Jekyll sunk against him. “And what has made your soul bleed so?” He asked, regaining some of his composure. 

“It’s just been a rough few days. I-I was thinking about my father again.” His voice shook pathetically.

“I see,” Utterson said, stoking Jekyll’s back. The two men fell into silence again. Just holding each other tightly. They kept grasping at the other, pulling at whatever they could grab on the other. Their hold just wasn’t tight enough, fearing the other could slip away at any moment. They pressed their bodies close together, so close they could feel the other’s broken heartbeat, almost in sync with the other, and yet they weren’t close enough. They could never get close enough to the other. Neither man nor machine could do it, it would take divine intervention to pull them apart, as they used all of their strength to hold each other tighter, growing ever tighter. Squeezing the other, in fear of losing them. Their breathing shallow and frantic as the fear of losing the other griped them and drove them to hug the other tighter. 

“Oh…Harry,” Utterson cooed softly. “There’s nobody in this world that breaks my heart quite like you do.”

“I’m sorry,” Jekyll said, his voice so hoarse it only came out as a whisper. 

“No, no, don’t apologize. It's a good thing. It means I truly care for you.” Utterson said, pulling away from the doctor's body but still keeping a steadying hand on Jekyll's hip. “Come, let’s tend to your hand. I still remember where you keep your medical bag.” The lawyer led Jekyll to a chair and helped him sit before going over to the counter and returning with a black leather bag. 

He sat on his knees, pulling a pair of forceps out of the bag, and gently taking Jekyll’s hand. He gently took the free edge of the glass in the tweezers and pulled the thorn-like intrusion from the doctor’s skin. It was hot and swollen. The surface flushed pink from the trauma and stained red from the dried blood. The doctor hissed in pain as each fragment of the beaker was removed. 

“I know, I know,” Utterson winced, looking as if he was going to cry again. “I don’t want to hurt you, but we can’t leave this glass in your skin.” He said pulling the glass from Jekyll’s arm, with nothing blocking it, the blood was free to ooze out and pool to the surface where it trickled down and stained Jekyll’s skin, dripping onto the floor beneath them. 

“I feel faint,” Jekyll said holding his head with his free hand. 

“I would imagine so,” Utterson said, looking down at the small, growing, red puddle on the floor for a moment before continuing his task. He removed the splinters as quickly and gently as possible. After he had double-checked Jekyll’s arm for any more of the debris he turned the doctor’s hand over. “It’s a miracle none of these pieces went deep enough to puncture your vein,” Utterson said, observing the broken glass sticking out of Jekyll’s wrist and palm. The subtle touch of Utterson’s hands was not enough, as Jekyll was seeking comfort from him. 

“Gabriel, please hold me,” Jekyll begged in a low voice, his breath hitching, he really didn’t have the energy to cry again, but he still felt the tears in his eyes. 

Utterson didn’t meet Jekyll’s gaze, he kept his eyes locked on the doctor’s arm as he pulled more glass out of it. “I will’” Utterson promised, “as soon as I get your arm taken care of.” Most of the big pieces had been removed, but there were still several small splinters sticking out of Jekyll’s skin. The doctor watched his beloved meticulously pluck every last fragment of the beaker out of his bleeding appendage. He took a damp rag to it, cleaning up what he could of the blood, and wrapped it tightly in a bandage. 

“Henry, Henry, look at me,” The lawyer’s words were soft yet urgent. Jekyll had never heard so much emotion in his partner’s voice. “never, ever do that again.” Utterson said, a stray tear rolling down his cheek. 

Jekyll said nothing, just slipped out of his chair and sunk to the ground, to sit with Utterson. He didn’t care that he was taller, he still wanted to be held, to be cradled by his beloved. He leaned his head on the lawyer’s chest as Utterson draped his arms around him protectively. The two men dissolved into tears once more. Holding one another tightly as they whispered sweet nothings into the other’s ear between the sobs. Gripping the back of each other’s shirts and matting their hair with the opposite’s fingers, as they held on to one another like a screaming child would cling to its mother. It had been a rough day. 

They were glad it would be over soon. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hesitated to post this because for some reason, even after I made a second draft the diction still just didn't feel right to me. But I decided I'd go ahead and upload it because it was a bit of a venture out of my comfort zone. I hope it's somewhat legible.


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